Oh my, it happened again.

DW had occasions of dysphagia and Pantoprazole was the Rx that kept these episodes very rare. She is now off that medication completely after several years.

You might want to ask your doctor about that.

have him evaluated by a Speech Therapist. They can do a swallow test and recommend diet and liquid changes. The area of the brain that controls swallowing is affected by the dementia. If that’s the cause it will get worse. Even water doesn’t go down the esophagus it goes into the lungs. They recommend mechanical soft diet first and then progress to puréed food and thickened liquids. My step dad had a stroke and the Speech Therapist explained it to me. About 50% of dementia patients die from aspiration pneumonia caused by problems swallowing.

I forgot to mention - YOU still need to eat and take care of yourself. If you still want to cook, freeze leftovers and re-heat another day when you don’t feel like cooking.

I read in another post ‘You need to put on your oxygen mask first!

This happens with my DH. He eats something and it won't go up or down. He says it's stuck. Its not a choking situation. We have done the sink thing too. Even water won't go down. Then comes up through nose sometimes. It started a couple years ago before he had diagnosis. We went to ER once and they did an endoscopy and found nothing. Now I've made the connection. I cannot feed him any dry meat without concern and monitoring closely. Even with lots of gravy or sauce. All it takes is on tiny piece, just eaten out of sequence with drinking liquid. Even if it is finely chopped, but I too sometimes forget. It is very scary when it is happening. You are not alone. It is hard to monitor without hovering. I too have noted the medication name. Thanks for sharing.